Tea workers from multiple estates in Sylhet observed two-hour work stoppages and staged protests on Sunday, August 30, pressing a four-point set of demands, including raising their daily wage to Tk 500 and holding elections to the Bangladesh Tea Workers Union. Separate demonstrations were organised at Alibahar Tea Estate and Daldali Tea Estate as workers intensified their campaign over wages and labour representation.
At Alibahar Tea Estate, the programme was organised by the estate’s Panchayat Committee. Speakers included Kawsar Ahmed, President of Pragati Yuba Samaj Kalyan Sangstha; Shyamacharan Goala, President of the Alibahar Panchayat Committee; Krishna Goala, President of the Alibahar Puja Committee; and Nazma Begum, Vice-President of the Alibahar Panchayat Committee. Workers stopped work for two hours while raising their four demands.
Tea workers at Daldali Tea Estate simultaneously held a two-hour work stoppage and protest over the same demands. Mintu Das, President of the Daldali Tea Estate Panchayat Committee, and Shilpi Akter, Vice-President of the Women’s Panchayat Committee, were among those who addressed the demonstration.
Labour leaders said workers had previously submitted memoranda outlining their demands to Expatriates’ Welfare Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury and the Deputy Commissioner, but no effective action followed. They said the lack of progress compelled workers to take their demands to the streets.
Tea workers in Bangladesh have historically faced low wages and economic precarity despite generations of labour sustaining the country’s tea industry. The Sylhet protests bring together demands for higher wages with demands for democratic representation within the Bangladesh Tea Workers Union, while the participation of women workers and women’s Panchayat leadership also underscores the gendered dimensions of labour organising within tea-growing communities.
Source: SAMAKAL